The present invention relates generally to a nose pad insert assembly for eyeglass eyewires. More specifically, the present invention relates to a dual-purpose nose pad assembly for connecting to either a push-on type pad arm assembly or a post and screw type nose pad arm assembly.
In the optical and eyeglass field, it has been well known to employ nose pad inserts in the construction of the eyeglass eyewires for use by customers. Eyeglasses typically include two eyewires, each holding a lens, a bridge as well as two temples to engage with the ears of a wearer. Most importantly, a nose pad is secured to each of the eyewires of the eyeglasses to cushion the eyeglasses on the wearer's nose and to provide alignment for the eyeglass lenses. In the optical industry, there are many types of eyeglass eyewires, temples and nose pad assemblies. In particular, there are several types of nose pad arm assemblies which provide the interconnection between the nose pad insert itself and the individual eyeglass eyewires. The two most common types of pad arm assemblies are the push-on pad arm assembly and the post and screw type assembly. These pad arm assemblies are typically permanently affixed to the particular eyeglass eyewire at hand thus requiring, for the life of the eyeglass eyewire, a particular type of nose pad insert for use. As a result, the proper type of nose pad insert must be employed during eyeglass repair to accommodate the particular type of nose pad arm assembly on the eyeglasses.
As a result of the requirement of use of a particular type of nose pad insert for a particular pad arm assembly, an eyeglass repairer, such as an optician, must keep both types of nose pad insert assemblies in stock to accommodate both possible pad arm assemblies on eyeglasses that may need repair. Furthermore, the two types of pad arm assemblies significantly decreases the ability of a customer to easily select the preferred type of nose pad insert. For example, the customer may prefer a particular type of insert but the eyeglasses at hand include a pad arm assembly which is incompatible with the selected nose pad insert.
In view of the foregoing, there is a significant disadvantage to the multiple pad arm and nose pad insert constructions in that they are incompatible with one another and require that both types must be kept in inventory to accommodate both types of pad arm assemblies on eyeglasses. Due to the demand for a single pad arm and nose pad insert which has a universal-type construction, it is desirable for a nose pad insert to be easily customizable to both a push-on type pad arm assembly and a post and screw type assembly which are the most common pad arm assemblies in the optical industry. It is also desirable for a nose pad insert to be easily customizable to the particular pad arm assembly at hand. In addition, it is desirable that the nose pad insert be capable of functioning in a normal fashion despite being previously customized.